Electrical hair and scalp treating instrument.



I H. 0. FOLGBR. ELEGTRIGAL HAIR AND SGALP TREATING INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29, 1910.

Patented June 18, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l'.

t y M COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH :0, WASHINGTON. D. c.

H. 0. FOLGER. ELECTRICAL HAIR AND SGALP TREATING INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29, 1910.

Patented June 18, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witnesses.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY C. FOLGER, 0F SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO NU-VO IVIFG.00., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

ELECTRICAL HAIR AND SOALP TREATING INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1912.

Application filed September 29, 1910. Serial No. 584,482.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY G. FoLeER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Somerville, in the count-y of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in ElectricalHair and Scalp Treating Instruments, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for treating the hairand scalp, and one object is to provide a simple and convenient devicefor combing and drying the hair after shampooing or after a person hasbeen in bathing and has gotten the hair wet.

Another object is to provide means for giving the scalp an electricaltreatment.

Another object is to provide means whereby the hair may be simply heattreated to dry it while combing or it may be heat treated and the scalpelectrically treated simultaneously, the change from one to the otherbeing accomplished instantly at will.

It is a well known fact that the scalp after a shampoo is cold, inertand dormant, and that the pores or pigment cells are open and free fromthe natural oil, and are then in the best proper condition forelectrical treatment. It is also desirable, to produce the mosteflicient results, to dry the scalp and hair and at the same time toretain these pig ment cells open and free from the natural oil. Toproduce these desirable effects the invention contemplates a devicewherein the hair and scalp are heated to quickly dry out the natural oiland other moisture from the scalp and to hold these cells or pores openwhile the electricity is applied to the scalp, thus obtaining the mosteflicient result-s in the application of elect-r0-therapeutic devices.Also the application of electricity to the scalp simultaneous with theheat application stirs the glands into immediate activity and effectsthe thorough drying of the scalp, the drying of the roots of the hairand preventing the contraction of colds usually incident to the slowmethod of drying the hair. The present method of drying the hair is by aforced draft, by fans, towels, and the like, and is a slow method notconsidered very healthy. By the simultaneous heating and application ofelectricity to the scalp, a two-fold desirable result is obtained;namely, first, the hair and scalp are quickly dried by the heating andthe stimulating of the pores, and secondly, the electricity is appliedto the scalp while the pores are held open by heating, the electricaltreatment being thus most efiective.

Still another object is to provide means whereby the user may employ thedevice in place of the ordinary medical battery by using two handlesgrasped in the hands or by using one handle in the hand and attaching awet sponge to the hair combing device and using the sponge on the body.

To these ends, my invention consists in the novel features ofconstruction and in the combination and arrangement of parts set forthin the following specification and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan of an apparatus embodyingmy inven tion, the handle being partly broken away. Fig. 2 is anelevation of the apparatus, the handle being also partly broken away inthis view. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the electrical circuits.Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-t of Fig. 2, looking towardthe left. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the resistance used forheating a comb, certain portions of the resistance being partly brokenaway for the sake of clearly illustrating the construction.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of thedrawings.

In the drawings, 10 is a handle having an enlarged portion 11, to oneface of which is secured a heat radiating device 12 which, together withsaid handle, forms a chamber 13 which may be formed partly in the handleand partly in the heat radiating device. The heat radiating device maybe of any suit-able character and is preferably provided with aplurality of teeth l t arranged in one or more series, as may bedesired. Preferably, this heat radiating device, which constitutes acomb or the like, is formed of asuitable metal.

Located in the chamber 13 is a suitable resistance designated generallyby the numeral 15, this resistance being shown in perspective in Fig. 5and preferably consisting of a plurality of sheets of suitableinsulating and fireproof material such, for example, as mica, havingwound thereon a continuous wire 16 forming a resistance coil or coils.This resistance is preferably made up by providing a suitable core 1'?which may be formed of asbestos, this core being embraced by two sheetsof mica l8 and 19 whose opposite edges are provided with notches 20, thenotches of one sheet registering with those of the other, these notchesbeing for the purpose of receiving the wire 16 and preventinglongitudinal displacement thereof. When this section of the resistanceis completed, another similar section is formed surrounding the same byplacing sheets of mica 21 and 22 upon the inner section and then windingthe wire 16 about the second section, and so on, building up as many sections as may be desired. In this way, all of the coils of the resistanceare insulated from each other by fireproof insulation and yet theconstruction is such that it occupies a small amount of space and at thesame time the heat generated can circulate about between the variouslayers. The resistance as a whole is fitted snugly into the recess inthe radiating device 12 and insulated therefrom by a sheet of mica 23.

Located in that portion of the chamber 13 which is formed in theenlarged portion 11 of the handle 10, I place one or more layers ofsuitable insulating and heat resisting material such, for example, asasbestos, and, in the present instance, have shown two superposed layers2% and 25, the ends of the wire 16 being carried through the layer 24and being secured, respectively, to metallic contact plates 26 and 27.The plate 26 has electrical contact with a conductor 28 passinglongitudinally through the handle 10 and preferably provided with asharpened terminal portion 29. The plate 27 is electrically connected toa contact button 30 with which a switch 31 cooperates, said switch beingmounted to swing upon a pivot 32 and electrically connected to a con-4c.

ductor 33 similar to the conductor 28 and having a similar sharpenedterminal portion These terminal portions 29 and 3a of the conductors 28and 33, respectively, project into a suitable socket 35 into which twoline wires 36 and 37 extend, said wires being connected, respectively,to terminals 38 and 39 in said socket, the arrangement being such thatthe socket may be readily detached from the handle in an obvious manner.The line wires will, in practice, be connected to a suitable source ofcurrent such, for example, as an electric hghtmg circuit.

The switch 31 may be moved out of contact with the contact button 30into contact with a second contact button 10, the latter being connectedto a primary'winding 41 of a transformer 42 preferably of the stepdowntype, this primary winding being also connected to the contact button30, all of which clearly appears in Fig. 3. The contact button 30 isalso connected to the re sistance 15 to which the conductor 28 isconnected, as hereinbefore described.

The transformer 42 has a secondary vice and into the scalp.

winding .13 one end of which is grounded at on the radiating device 12and the other end of which is connected to a socket d5. In this socket aplug 46 is detachably inserted, thus plug having connected thereto asuitable flexible conductor 47 to which a metallic handle 48constituting an electrode is attached. It will be understood that thetransformer 12 may be of any suitable type, but, in the presentembodiment of my invention, 1 have chosen to employ an induction coilsuch as that shown and described in United States Patent No. 717,203,issued to Otto H. Huebel, December 30, 1902, to which reference may behad for details of construction.

The operation of the device of my invention is as follows: hen the userwishes to simply dry the hair while combing the same, she places theswitch 31 on the contact 40, or in the position opposite to that shownin Figs. 1 and 3, with the consequence that the current will passthrough only the resistance 15 and will heat the same, thus heating theradiating device 12 with its teeth 14. hen grasping the handle 10 in thehand, the user manipulates the device the same as she would a comb andthe teeth 1 1 aflixed to the heated plate will separate the hair anddraw it across the heated plate while the hair is thus separated andthus all parts of the hair will be thoroughly dried while being combed.If, however, the user wishes to give the scalp an electrical treatment,she moves the switch into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3,so that the current will flow not only through the resistance 15, butthrough the primary winding 41 of the transformer 42, thus inducing acurrent of lower potential in the secondary winding 13. The user thengrasps the handle 10 with one hand and places the teeth of the comb incontact with the scalp and with the other hand grasps the handle 18,thus making the body a part of the secondary circuit so that the scalpmay be given an electrical treatment in an obvious manner.

lVhen the circuit is thus closed through the resistance and thetransformer, the radiating device is heated, the same effecting thedrying of the hair and holding the pores of the scalp open while theelectric current passes through the radiating de- As the moisturetending to clog the pores of the scalp is removed by the application ofheat, the electricity is more evenly distributed over the scalp, and isnot confined by the moisture to any one point of the scalp. As thecurrent passes through the radiating device into the scalp at the sametime that the latter is heated, the scalp is stimulated by theelectricity and the drying is accomplished more thoroughly and evenlyand ina comparatively short time.

In case that it be desired to use the device as a substitute for anordinary medical battery, I provide a second handle 49 connected by aflexible conductor 50 to a plug 51 inserted in a socket 52 provided inthe radiating device 12 so that the user by grasping the handles 48 and49 in the hands will receive a shock in this manner. The teeth let ofthe comb may be conveniently employed to attach a sponge to the handle10 by sticking the teeth into the sponge and .when the sponge is wet itmay be passed over the body in the same manner in which the sponge of anordinary medical battery is employed. Thus it will be seen that thedevice is capable of a wide range of use both as a hair drying deviceand as a substitute for a medical battery, the current for the devicebeing supplied from any electric lighting chandelier or wall plug.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire by LettersPatent to secure is:

l. A hair and scalp treating instrument having, in combination, aresistance, a radiating device located adjacent to said resist ance tobe heated thereby, and a transformer having a primary winding inelectrical connection with said resistance, and a secondary winding inelectrical connection with said radiating device.

2. A hair and scalp treating instrument having, in combination, aresistance, a radiating device located adjacent to said resistance to beheated thereby, a transformer having a primary winding and a secondarywinding, said secondary winding being in electrical connection with saidradiating device, and a switch to connect said primary winding incircuit with said resistance.

3. A hair and scalp treating instrument having, in combination, aresistance, a radiating device located adjacent to said resistance to beheated thereby, a transformer having a primary winding in electrical connection with said resistance, and a secondary winding in electricalconnection with said radiating device, and a conducting handle inelectrical connection with said secondary winding.

4:. A hair and scalp treating instrument having, in combination, ahandle, a radiating device located on one side of and forming togetherwith said handle a chamber, a transformer mounted on the opposite sideof said handle and having a primary winding and a secondary winding, aresistance located in said chamber to heat the radiating device, andmeans to electrically connect said'primary winding in circuit with saidresistance.

5. A hair and scalp-treating instrument comprising a heat-radiatingdevice having electric-conducting teeth for engagement with the hair andscalp, and means for clirecting an electric current through theheatradiating device whereby the current passes to the hair and scalp.

6. A hair and scalp-treating instrument comprising a radiating device, aresistance for heating the radiating device, a transformer having aprimary winding in electrical connection with the resistance and havinga secondary winding in electrical connection with the radiating device,and a conducting handle in electrical connection with the secondarywinding.

7. A hair and scalp-treating instrument comprising a conductor forapplying an electric current to the scalp and hair, and heating meansfor the conductor to open the pores of the scalp during the applicationof the electricity.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HENRY C. FOLGER.

Witnesses LOUIS A. Jones, CHARLES S. GOODING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D. G.

